On September 3rd, Li Zhi sent out his entire army to help suppress the bandits.??
This time Li Zhi led an army of 16,000 to the south, and his subordinates Zheng Kaicheng, Li Laosi, and Zhong Feng went with the army. Li Xing still stayed in Fanjiazhuang. He took 1,000 troops from each of the four regiments and led a total of 4,000 troops.
Guard Fanjiazhuang in the rear.
The army needs food and grass supplies for the expedition. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, part of the food and grass is usually provided at the place of departure, and part is provided by the states and counties passing through the interior. However, Li Zhizhi did not have confidence in the bureaucrats of the six provinces in the Ming Dynasty, and was worried that the officials of the Ming Dynasty in the interior would refuse
Supply the army.
At that time, it will not look good to attack prefectures and counties for food and grass.
Li Zhi simply hired 6,000 baggage men and brought enough food for the army for five months.
Each of these baggage farmers manages a two-horse carriage, which can carry hundreds of kilograms of grain. Li Zhi has captured tens of thousands of military horses over the years and has enough pack horses to equip a six thousand two-horse carriage. In addition to grain,
The baggage carts are also equipped with iron pots, tents and other necessary items for marching. The baggage carts are lined up inside the military formation during the march and are protected. Soldiers' armor, weapons, bedding and other items can also be placed on the baggage carts.
During this expedition, Li Zhi gave the baggage men a monthly salary of twenty-five cents. The baggage cars did not need to fight in battle. Li Zhi had never killed any baggage men during his previous expeditions. Hearing that Li Zhi used such a high monthly salary to recruit people
, there were so many applicants. Li Zhi selected 6,000 strong people from tens of thousands of applicants to serve as civilian husbands.
On that day, 16,000 soldiers of the Huben Division and 6,000 civilians were ready and stood in the south of Fanjiazhuang City, waiting for the arrival of the Governor. The relatives of the soldiers came to see the soldiers go on the expedition, and tens of thousands of people from nearby Fanjiazhuang crowded to the south of Fanjiazhuang City to see them off.
A large army. However, everyone had confidence in the combat power of the Huben Division and felt that the bandits would be able to defeat them, so they were in a very relaxed mood.
In Tianjin city, Li Zhi wore white paint scale armor and said goodbye to Cui He in his room.
Cui He bit his lip and asked, "Can you win this time?"
Li Zhi smiled and said: "I will definitely win, don't worry."
Cui He's face lit up with joy, and he gave his slightly older daughter to Li Zhi and said, "I'll give you a hug."
Li Zhi took his daughter, touched her cheek and said, "My daughter is so beautiful, she looks just like my mother."
Cui He looked at Li Zhi, snatched his daughter back, and said, "I won't hug you anymore, because you love her so much that you won't love me anymore!"
Li Zhi smiled, pinched Cui He's face and said no more.
With a flick of his cloak, Li Zhi walked out of the General Military Mansion, mounted the imperial horse and rode the wind, leading Zheng Kaicheng and others who were waiting outside, out of the city to Fanjiazhuang.
When Li Zhi walked out of the west gate of Tianjin City, gongs and drums were beating loudly on the city gate, and the Tianjin garrison sent off the governor to go out to suppress the bandits. The Tianjin garrison responsible for Tianjin city defense allowed Li Zhi to enter and exit Tianjin city at will when Li Zhi arrested him last time, and was dismissed by Li Zhi.
After taking a look, the garrison was deeply encouraged. At this time, they set up a gong and drum team at the city gate to send Li Zhi off, hoping to make the governor happy.
Maybe when the governor is happy, he will give himself a small reward when he reports his merits, and he will be promoted.
The new governor of Tianjin, Li Jizhen, led the civil and military officials of Tianjin to gather outside the city gate to see off Li Zhi, the Taibao. Everyone knew the combat effectiveness of Li Zhi's troops, and no one doubted that Li Zhi could not defeat the bandits. Now everyone in Tianjin knows Li Zhi's identity after the war.
It will continue to improve, and no one will want to fight against Li Zhi anymore.
Li Jizhen was new here, and he had no ability to compete with Li Zhi. He heard about the fate of the previous governor Zha Dengbei, and treated Li Zhi with the courtesy of a superior officer.
Li Jizhen saw Li Zhi riding over and shouted:
"I wish the Governor great success!"
Other officials shouted: "I wish the Governor a great victory!"
"I wish the Taibao Lord to defeat the thief!"
Li Zhi smiled, was too lazy to be polite to these Ming officials, and rode in front of the Tianjin officials. Those officials didn't care about Li Zhi's indifferent attitude, they all clasped their fists and bowed to Li Zhi.
When Li Zhixing arrived at the south of Fanjiazhuang City, the 16,000-strong army had been waiting for a long time. When the army saw the commander coming, they shouted in unison:
"Wan Sheng!"
"Wan Sheng!"
Li Zhi nodded, waved his hand, and shouted: "Go to war!"
Sixteen thousand soldiers shouted in unison: "Tiger!"
The sound of "Tiger" was so neat that sixteen thousand voices merged into one sound, which was so powerful that it made Eunuch Huang, who was following behind Li Zhi, tremble.
In the eyes of relatives, the 16,000-strong army set out, released a thousand reconnaissance scouts, and headed south along the official road.
Eunuch Huang, who had been following Li Zhi, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Li Zhi had finally surrendered. Without further delay, he said goodbye to Li Zhi and went to the capital to report the news.
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The army moved all the way south, traveling forty miles a day. After two months of walking, it reached the border of Xiangyang.
Before the army arrived at Xiangyang City, which was still ten miles away from the city, thousands of villagers and elders were seen on both sides of the road, welcoming Li Zhi's reinforcements. Several gong and drum teams lined up along the official road and saw Li Zhi's army.
When they arrived, gongs and drums were played to welcome the Huben division. There were strong men waiting by the roadside carrying freshly killed pigs and sheep, obviously preparing to reward the reinforcements.
Ten miles away from the city, Yang Sichang led the military officials of Xiangyang City and stood on the official road waiting for Li Zhi's arrival.
Yang Sichang waited for a while and then saw a strong army marching towards him with neat steps amid the sound of gongs and drums.
The soldiers of this heroic army are all wearing red simple military uniforms. The military uniforms are different from the Ming army's mandarin duck war jackets. They are fastened with buttons on both sides. The cuffs of the military uniforms are very small, and they look very energetic. Soldiers' military uniforms
It's red, and officers are dark red.
It was autumn, the weather was slightly cool, and the soldiers' uniforms were all long-sleeved and made of two layers of cotton. Obviously, this well-equipped army also had winter clothes and summer clothes. The soldiers all wore long leather boots.
, those leather boots look very sturdy and durable, suitable for long-distance marches.
The soldiers were marching at this time and did not wear armor. But Yang Sichang's sharp eyesight saw that there were pieces of armor tied to the baggage carts of the soldiers and horses. Some of the armors were breastplates that Yang Sichang had never seen before:
Those breastplates had no scales and were forged as a whole. They looked like breastplates of Mingguang Armor, but they were larger than the breastplates and could obviously protect the entire upper body. Looking at the cold light of those breastplates, Yang Sichang suspected that those breastplates were
It's steel armor, not iron armor.
Next to these breastplates, there are also arm guards, shoulder guards and skirt armor with the same cold light. Obviously, these armors are combined into a set of full body armor, which can protect the whole body.
Yang Sichang has been in the military for decades, but he has never seen a Ming army equipped with such sophisticated steel armor in batches. The border troops of the Ming Dynasty are generally equipped with iron-plated cotton armor, and the officers and soldiers in the mainland do not even have cotton armor. I have never heard of it.
Which army uses steel armor to arm its soldiers? How strong must the soldiers wearing such steel armor have to be to fight?
In addition to this kind of steel armor, Yang Sichang also saw a large number of chain armors on the baggage trains, more than the full-body steel armor. The appearance of those chain armors made Yang Sichang's heart tremble. Yang Sichang recognized the standard of these chain armors.
This is not the chain armor of the Ming army, this is all the chain mail captured from the Tatars!
How many Tatars must be killed to capture so many chainmails?
Yang Sichang looked at Li Zhi's soldiers and horses, his face turned pale. Our Ming Dynasty actually has such a unique and powerful army. (To be continued.) 8
